The black box is plastered with booming, sunset-colored 1960's-70s psychedelic lettering: a conflation influenced by the era's albums and singles cover art. Witness a synthesis of The Beatles, "Rubber Soul" and The Who's "Magic Bus" blended together with the color scheme of Stevie Wonder's, "Songs in the Key of Life". The bottle, however, is your modern Ardbeg vessel with the design heralding the island's Celtic heritage. But in the middle of the label, is the name of this celebratory expression, "Grooves" in all it's psychedelic glory. Egads, what a gaudy sight. Far from tastefully accommodating the Celtic theme into nominally-psychedelic depictions gotten in Art Nouveau or Art Deco, it looks like some guy vandalized the label with graffiti. This clash of styles isn't sophisticated - it is hideous! And when put next to the eye-watering price tag, it's practically heresy. I decided at that instant, I was going to bottle kill this travesty and learn the secrets to its twisted origins. When I returned home, I separated it from the other Ardbegs in my thralldom, and innocuously hid it behind a bottle of GD 15, where it would await its fate as my next neck pour.. But alas, when the time for tasting had arrived there was no revelation. There was no jigsaw puzzle of contesting aesthetic functions. There was only Ardbeg quality, delivery, and excellence because.... well.. "because it's Ardbeg!" On with the goods. The aromas are of charred wood and smoke, interloping with delightfully sweet and mildly fruity red wine. Further nosings coalesce into a velvety honey- and malt-inflected scotch profile, echoing with peat and sweet notes, blushing into red fruits. This is one of the most appetizing of scotch aromas I know of. The palate is likewise sweet with an almost soy-inflected barbeque note, I'm thinking Korean short ribs. Less of a roughshod, sherry-driven bacon profile than the Uigeadail, this is a bit more refined: beef grilled over charcoal flames, ringed by bulbous glasses of pinot noir or chianti. Still, it's not as sweet as the Uigeadail, nor as viscous. With the lower alcohol proof, it goes without saying there is less of an impact on your senses. So - while this isn't the Ardbeg battle yell of a charging line of tartan-clad warriors - it's also a world away from Haight-Ashbury libations and devil-dandruff-powered disco. This finishes with a drier and spicier profile than the Uigeadail that I contribute to the toasted barrel grooves. The aroma from the emptied glass is pungent with wine-marinated steak and American BBQ sauce. For the sake of research, I followed this tasting with Lagavulin 16, and the Lag was not much more than a smooth, albeit dangerously so, bourbon-cask scotch floating on a cloud of white smoke. The sea spray and brine notes (having been my least favorite parts of the Lag) were a long ago echo. Simply astounding. While I'll most likely not buy, let alone find, another bottle - this is a great scotch done right. It has certainly piqued my interest in the Blaaack and An Oa, while tempering my expectations at the same time. Was it 'Groovy'? Absolutely.... I was waiting for dessert but I'll just give this a score.